Infrared Survey · Electrical Thermography
Annual Infrared Inspections Explained
- Infrared electrical survey
- IR thermography inspection
- Infrared inspection report
An infrared inspection finds the failures that announce themselves as heat before they announce themselves as an outage: loose or corroded connections, high-resistance terminations, imbalanced loads, overloaded conductors.
Two conditions decide whether the survey is worth anything.
It has to be performed with the equipment energised and under a meaningful operating load — a scan taken on lightly loaded gear can miss a defect that only appears when current rises.
And it has to be comparative. NFPA 70B expects temperature differences to be verified between similar components under similar loading and between components and ambient air, with the difference between the area of concern and its reference area documented. An absolute temperature on its own tells you very little. The difference tells you almost everything.
Which is why the report matters as much as the scan. A defensible infrared record identifies the equipment and the specific component, the load at the time of the survey, the measured difference against a stated reference, the image, a severity assessment, the qualified person who performed it, the date, and what was done about the finding. A folder of thermal images with no load context and no reference comparison is not evidence.
On frequency: FM Global Data Sheet 5-20, as one example of an insurer engineering standard, directs annual infrared surveys of electrical equipment, while NFPA 70B derives the interval from condition.
FacilityOps AI standardises that capture so this year's survey can be compared with last year's.
Have last year's IR report to hand? Book a 15-minute call and we will show you what a defensible record contains.
Book a 15-Minute CallDisclaimer / Source Note
This article describes NFPA 70B in paraphrase and does not reproduce the standard's text, tables or threshold values. Consult the published text via NFPA. FM Global DS 5-20 is cited as an example of an insurer engineering standard; expectations vary by carrier, policy and site. Nothing here is legal advice.